Over 1,200 staff evacuated from Canary Wharf over coronavirus victim

US group S&P Global Platts has sent home more than 1,200 staff after a visitor to the Canary Wharf office was diagnosed with coronavirus.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has told companies to have in place contingency plans, as many finance workers are based in the capital’s financial district, Canary Wharf.

Greg Coffey, the hedge fund manager has told staff he will pay for them to get taxis to and from the office, in an attempt to prevent workers catching coronavirus, according to the Telegraph.

S&P employees in Canary Wharf were told on Thursday to work from home until further notice.

S&P Global Platts said in a statement, “Platts has a robust business continuity plan to ensure there are no disruptions to our MOC (market-on-close) price assessment process and the essential commodity market intelligence our customers rely on across news and analytics.”

On Wednesday HSBC evacuated their research department, which is part of their trading floor. It is believed a research analyst has contracted coronavirus.

Accountancy firm Deloitte has closed their Holborn office on Wednesday, after a member of staff returned from a work trip in Asia with coronavirus.